Queensland mum let man rape her daughter, 12

Miranda Forster

A Queensland mother let a man she met on the internet rape her 12-year-old daughter and distribute explicit images of the girl online, a court has been told.

The 37-year-old mother of five was sentenced to five years' imprisonment on Friday after pleading guilty to 11 charges of indecent treatment of a child and one charge of distributing child exploitation material.

A 28-year-old man was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years' imprisonment after pleading guilty to six charges of rape, five charges of indecent treatment of a child and accessing, possessing, making and distributing child exploitation material.

Neither can be named to protect victims' identities.

The Brisbane District Court heard the pair met online in late 2011 and discussed child exploitation before the single mother sent a photo of her two eldest children, girls aged 10 and 12, at the man's request.

Crown prosecutor Dennis Kinsella said on two occasions the man visited the woman's home at Ipswich, west of Brisbane, where he took sexually explicit photos of the girls while their mother was present.

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He touched one girl indecently during the first visit and on the second he took the 12-year-old into a bedroom and raped her several times.

Mr Kinsella said the reluctant children were coerced into participating, including with the promise of a McDonald's meal.

The man traded the explicit photos of the girls with others, and Mr Kinsella said police have come across the images in the course of other investigations into child exploitation.

Officers arrested the man in March 2012 after finding more than 2500 images of child pornography in his possession, including "vile and base" pictures that featured babies.

The mother was arrested soon after when officers noticed the "unique" photos of her daughters among the collection and asked where they came from.

The woman has been banned from contact with any of her children.

"[It is] perhaps one of the greatest breaches of trust which is known within our community," Mr Kinsella told the court.

"It's hard to imagine what her motivation was ... perhaps it was one way to further the relationship or to continue her relationship with [the man]."

The woman's barrister said she'd been vulnerable following a seriously abusive relationship prior to meeting the man.

Judge Brian Devereaux said it was appalling and horrible behaviour, and both the man and woman deserved a jail sentence.

The man will be eligible for parole next September after having already spent two-and-a-half years' in custody.